The proposal for a Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at the University of Chicago consists of broad programs in education, counseling, supportive social services, basic and clinical research, along with community participation from predominantly Afro-American, Greek-American and Italian-American groups. The educational programs include public education and the education of specialists: health educators, social workers, high school teachers, employers and insurance company personnel, and professional education of scientists. Counseling involves personal and computerized approaches to clients and patients and their families. Supportive services will deal with the special problems encountered by patients with sickle cell disease in their interactions with the community. Basic research includes studies on the regulation of erythropoiesis in vitro, the molecular basis for sickling, and cellular calcium and membrane potentials for sickle cells. Clinical programs include a Comprehensive Study of the Natural History of sickle cell disease in children and in adults, and investigations of the heart, cholelithiasis, uric acid, aseptic necrosis, immuno-hematology, and of the leukocytes in sickle cell disease, the identification of hemoglobinopathies in the newborn, management of pregnancy in sickle cell anemia, and the regulation of erythropoiesis in patients with sickle cell anemia.